It's no fun watching the NBA...

5/19/2005

Here comes the rain again

Witnessed a light and sound spectacle middle of the week courtesy of your local thunderstorm. It helped that I was on bed and the lights were off. I could see the sparks from the jalousied windows and since I had no depth perception from my angle, every other lightning seemed just came directly outside. It helped that there was construction going on next door and the exposed steel might have attracted the megawatt-powered forces of nature.As I lie there, with my eyes half-open to absorb the natural phenomenon while at the same time closing them to relish the rolling thunder (I could 'see' the lightning even if my eyes are closed), I tried to recall when was the last time I witnessed a thunderstorm. Quite a long time really. At least the last one that sticked. It helped that my aunt's household help was screaming after every lightning flash.Yes, senti mode on.Also experienced my first rain inconvenience. Was on my way to school. My stop was nearby but drops were pelting like stones and rocks thrown by a mob on a mad riot. Had to run to the nearest jeep.Even if we are still experiencing mid-30 temperatures, I now declare the rainy season open. Don't ever believe the local weather station. It's better to trust your window. And I'm not referring to the Bill Gates kind.

Then Vonzel is trying to be the next Fantasia, although Vonzie is just one of them scream-er-lungs-out-ers. Not impressive in my book. So is Carrie.

Then there is Scott Savol, who was supposed to be the next Ruben Studdard. The problem is, he's an ash.

Fortunately, there were no auditons in Hawaii, or we might have another Asian-American mix-breed who doesn't even know on what part of the map the Philippines is.

The only 'personality' that hasn't reaped much success in Am Idol so far are rockers. And that's where Constantine and Bo Bice come in. Before they let Vonzel win this season, they should go through all the cliches first. Then we'll have another black diva as Am Idol.

I mean, look at Survivor. When you think all storylines have been done, you have Rob and Amber pull off a Temptation Island strategy. Then this season, you have one survivor representing her tribe.

Unfortunately, the sole survivor coming from the minority tribe has been done before. Remember the season when one guy defeated a tribe full of females?

The 2005 Pulp Summer Slam Appreciation List

1 Kamikazee – hands down, the star of the night. What made them stand out is that initially, you don’t expect anything special from them, yet they blow your mind with their performance… err, interaction with the crowd in between songs while they catch their breath. Wicked. It helped that they performed Girlfriend, a personal favourite after seeing its music video, although my guess is that the moshers would want either Tsinelas or Yung Tagalog. They did perform the intro of Tsinelas at the start of their set to rev up the crowd.

2 Greyhoundz – this year, as with any other Pulp-organized event, is still kupaw year with Greyhoundz doing Your Puppet and Clown, that song with footages of Ring as its music video, and new single Apoy with the help of Ian of Queso and Jay of Kamikazee in the screaming vocals. Who said that they lost a guitarist, they don’t sound like they did. Still as raw and heavy as before. It’s nice to hear the classics once in a while.

3 Chicosci – energized the mid-afternoon audience as activity started to pick up. They did Paris for the clamouring masses and it seems that they started a new fad with this synchronized clapping, most likely inspired by one of their songs, which they also sang.

4 Mayonnaise – dead air and Red Horse plugs notwithstanding, being the current flavour of the week sure helps you connect with the already weary mob of black-clad water bottle throwers. The band gave the listless drove their second wind as they wait for Bamboo, Slapshock, Kapatid, and The Dawn finish the gig in the early morning. They were also successful in letting the bandwagoners sing along the lyrics of Jopay.

5 Queso – the name may have changed but they were still rocking the same. Ian was unusually composed tonight, not throwing cuss words left and right. They did some of the screaming unfamiliars but they capped it with Garden Fresh.

6 Bamboo – as we were about to leave, we heard the country’s current national anthem, Noypi. And yes, the whole Amoranto Sports Complex was rocking. Why they were this low in my chart? One, I didn’t get to watch their onstage dynamics as we already exited from the velodrome. Two, there’s a thing called bias.

7 Kitchie Nadal – kicked off the early evening set along with Spongecola and 6Cyclemind with a string of pop rock ditties. She bravely did Same Ground and an alternative version of Orient Pearl's Pagsubok, considering the general ambiance. It helps that she’s a looker and everybody was just content enough to watch and ogle, and asking for her to strip (as if she would oblige). A runaway winner of the Barbie Almalbis award this year. Their similarities are so uncanny, you’d think they were born from the same parents.

8 Agaw Agimat – long time no hear, no see this band. Sabi Nila and Wanliteltu sure brought back memories. And during their time onstage did I find out why they are out of the rotation although they claim they are very much active… in the underground. Speaking of which, they did have song about joining them underground. Although they got good heat from the crowd, I don’t think anyone would be jumping ship with them soon.

9 6Cyclemind – it helps that you get extensive airplay on radio and have decent airtime on tv regardless of how you look. Pulls them in even if you are as pop as After Image. Chuck Isidro still rocks even without the long locks. Thumbs up for kicking off with Sige. Followed it up with a new song and staples Biglaan and Paba.

10 POT – another blast from the past. Is it just me getting old or the ‘newer’ crowd couldn’t gel with POT? This was a band I previously disliked because they were colliding head on with the Eraserheads for attention. After two bypass operations and numerous trips to rehab central, I was one of the only few that got to connect with them. During Piece of This, everybody was so eerily quiet. Go figure.